Indicator definitions

Business surveys using tax/administrative data—number and percentage change: Tax/administrative data refers to the use by Statistics Canada of data from the Canada Revenue Agency, and other administrative sources, as an alternative to obtaining data directly from respondents. Sometimes called 'survey data replacement', this reduces the number of questionnaires going to respondents and the associated response burden.

Index of response burden hours: The estimate of response burden hours is calculated annually using the frequency of each survey, the average time to complete the questionnaire, and the number of surveyed respondents. Dividing this total by the estimated number of Canadian businesses gives average burden per establishment. The average is indexed; the year 1991 serves as the index year, or 100 mark. The calculation excludes the quinquennial Census of Agriculture.

Net undercoverage for 2011 Census of Population: The number of people missed, minus the number of people counted more than once. Following each Census since the 1961 Census, the reverse record check (RRC) has been carried out to measure census population undercoverage. The RRC estimates the number of people missed in the Census. This estimate is combined with the estimate from the census overcoverage study of the number of people enumerated more than once to calculate net undercoverage. In the Census of Agriculture, net census undercoverage—number of farms—is the number of farms missed by the Census, minus the number of farms counted more than once. As well, net census undercoverage—total farm area—is the total farm area missed by the Census, less the total farm area counted more than once.

Number of administrative records used to reduce sample size: The use by Statistics Canada of data from the Canada Revenue Agency and other administrative sources as an alternative to obtaining data directly from respondents. Sometimes called 'survey data replacement', this reduces the number of questionnaires going to respondents, as well as the associated response burden.

Number of media mentions: The number of times 'Statistics Canada', 'Statistique Canada', or a version of that term (such as Stats Can) appears within the monitored universe of media outlets. Multiple mentions of Statistics Canada within the same article are counted as a single mention. The target for Program 1 is 4,000; for Program 2, 1,500; and Program 3, 1,500.

Number of surveys using electronic data collection: 'Electronic' refers to web; electronic data reporting refers to receipt of data from respondents using electronic means such as Excel spreadsheets sent through an e-file transfer service. Computer-assisted personal interviewing and computer-assisted telephone interviewing are excluded.

Number of users engaged in Statistics Canada's social media: The sum of the number of Twitter followers (in English and French), the number of Facebook fans (English, French), and the number of YouTube viewers (English, French).

Number of users who start their visit on the Statistics Canada's website, rather than coming by way of an external link: The number of visitors who came to the site via a bookmark, link in an email, or typed-in URL (direct traffic).

Number of visits to CANSIM: The number of times the CANSIM database was accessed on the Statistics Canada website. To determine the number of visits by program, page view data from the Webtrends Analytics software was extracted and mapped to program. An overall share was calculated for each program; the total CANSIM database visits were then divided by these shares to produce the final number. (Visits are based on the IP address of the visitor; a series of pages viewed, within 30 minutes, counts as one visit. The data exclude StatCan employees at work, identified robots, spiders, crawlers and search services. A page view is counted every time a table is accessed for the first time during a visit; if one visitor accessed the same table many times in one visit, or made modifications to a table, the table is only counted once.)

Number of visits to the Statistics Canada website: The number of times a task was started on the Statistics Canada website. This number is obtained from the Webtrends Analytics software, and is based on the IP address of the visitor (a series of pages viewed within 30 minutes counts as one visit). Excludes: StatCan employees at work, identified robots, spiders, crawlers, and search services.

Percentage of statistical outputs corrected after release: The proportion of data releases in which the statistical output requires a correction after being published in The Daily. Corrections to faults such as incorrect links, contact information, formatting or grammar are excluded.

Percentage of major economic indicators  released as planned: Each year, Statistics Canada publishes the planned release dates for major economic indicators for the coming year on its website. These outputs and their release dates can be viewed on the Statistics Canada website.

Percentage of major economic indicators  whose sampling accuracy is within set objectives: Many indicators  are based on statistical sampling. Sampling is an important means of achieving timely and cost-effective results. At the same time, estimates based on sampling can be expected to vary from sample to sample, and to differ from those that would result from a complete census. Sampling accuracy objectives are set on a survey-by-survey basis.

Percentage of projects completed within scope, time, and budget: To be tracked by the Departmental Project Management Office.

Percentage of users having obtained what they needed: Information to be obtained through the National Contact Centre Post Contact Survey.

Periodicity and timeliness (international comparability): Continue to meet the Special Data Dissemination Standard set by the International Monetary Fund for data, such as the national accounts, balance of payments, Consumer Price Index, international trade, employment and wages.

Rating on areas of management as defined in the Management Accountability Framework: This evaluation of departments, conducted by the Treasury Board Secretariat, measures 21 areas of management. This independent evaluation is an indicator of the efficiency of an organization's modern management practices.